


unconcealed

by limeli



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Sexual Content, First "I love you"s, Love Bites, M/M, Mutual Masturbation, actors!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:27:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29638779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/limeli/pseuds/limeli
Summary: "I told Connie I loved you, and he said I should do something.""Do what about it?"About it.It. Loved? They had known each other for almost six years by then, but he’d never thought it possible."He said I should say it. That I love you."
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Jean Kirstein
Comments: 8
Kudos: 40





	unconcealed

The love marks weren't going away. Why were they called that way anyway? Hickeys. They were hickeys. As far as he was concerned, there was no love in the small bites in the lower part of his neck. There wasn't any sort of affection planted in the bruises decorating his collarbones in a polka dot style. It was simply part of their routines at that point, and love didn't fit either of them.

Looking around for the pale concealer shade he used in days like that one, Armin ducked to reach the third compartment of his trailer's bedside table. Taking the drawer out, he looked for the make-up item more urgently than ever before.

"I can lend you mine if you want," the current object of his intense desire and an essential subject of study made his way into his small bedroom. As he threw the thin container onto his hands, the pale man laughed at the shade color.

"Jean. This is ridiculous. It'll look like a poor tan and a nefarious attempt at faking innocence."

"Poet of my dreams. Believe it or not, the scene will take... five minutes to film? If not less. You know how the attention's gonna be on Mikasa and Eren, not you holding me close."

"Remind me why we even appear on that scene?"

"We love to have you acting all broken somehow. Don't see why the writers wouldn't love it enough to include it. You know what you do to us, Armin."

Letting his brain process the way Jean tapped the "r" in his name with that rise-fall tone of voice, the actor sighed. Uncapping the small recipient, he got the perfect amount of product to start covering the lustily battered cells of his ghostly skin. He kept his shirt unbuttoned and looked up at Jean standing behind him, his eyes watching him and taking him in as Armin massaged small circles over the marks a supposedly mysterious man had left on him.

"'Love' sounds huge for a colleague to say."

"Meh. You’ll call me by ‘colleague’ until you're wrapped in your bedsheets screaming my name. Guess that's how it goes now.” Armin heard the other man counterargue as he felt his hazel eyes study his every movement.

Feeling his cheeks get hotter and redder, he let his fingers stop their clockwise motion. "Jean."

Nervous, fidgeting with the bits of concealer on his fingertips, Armin looked up at his co-star through the foggy mirror. Several times, Jean had tried to clear out the view in his dark days, but no amounts of cleaning products helped see either of them any better. He was doomed to judging himself by only seeing a small part of his whole.

The trailer's inhabitant kept his blue eyes focused on the strands of Jean's spiky chestnut hair that glowed in the sunlight leaking through his window. Amused, Armin couldn't keep a straight face for long.

"And you're laughing now." He got for an answer and was lifted by the strong arms of his potential love interest - or who knows which other part Jean would also play in his character's life, for _Attack on Titan_ was known to be brutal enough not to be considered a romance. Maybe, the writers would get him killed later on to make Armin feel something other than self-loathing.

"Long day today?" the shorter and slightly thinner man asked, looking up at the brunet and smiling at how tall his partner was. He'd never wanted to be held in such a way until Jean started sneaking into his trailer for late-night talks and private guitar concerts.

"From what I saw in the script, I'm also saving Mikasa today."

"I know,” Armin replied, scrunching his nose with a contagious smile. Looking up at his co-star, he sighed out of habit.

Jean was not the kind of actor who would say his lines to the letter. Most times, he'd just stare at the huge piles of paper they received for each episode, seemingly bored. Armin knew for a fact he was much better of an improviser than your traditionally methodical actor.

"You know me, Minnie. Can't stand reading."

"How come are you so good then?” The blonde actor replied in a whisper, marveling at how skilled Jean was. “God, lend me some of your powers."

"Do I detect something strange here?" Jean asked him, and Armin could instantly feel something warm in his chest start to expand to his tummy.

"I'd never feel envy towards others’ irresponsibility," Armin whispered back, giving in to his dysfunctional center of gravity around those hazel eyes of Jean's and leaving a peck on the other man's lips.

"Well… Irresponsibility,” Jean paused to look back at him, making Armin feel trapped all of a sudden. It just took them two pairs of eyes to know what the other meant to express. “Irresponsibility is something else entirely."

Making sure he'd heard well, he lifted his head even more to meet the dark brown gaze of the taller man. Finding some sparks threatening to die out at any sign of indifference from his part, Armin remained static.

"Yes, you still owe me an answer if that’s what you’re getting at."

"Always the smartest. Man, judging by that wording, I guess I learned self-deprecation from being so much around you, Arlert."

"I'm not _forcing_ you to do anything, alright? I just don't want to go on thinking we're just messing around and -"

"Messing around? This jelly won't get himself be fucked by anyone else, mind you."

Feeling laughter bubbling the way it usually did whenever he was around Jean, he bit his lower lip to remain as serious as possible. The look in his ocean eyes, however, betrayed him enormously.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Armin said more enthusiastically than he would’ve wanted to. Since Jean had initiated the talk, he needed to get some answers out of it.

"It means I can't share myself with anyone else, duh."

"Jesus. Of course, I know, but -"

"Shut it. I'm yours to do whatever it is you want. Listening to my crappy songs, cooking instant food, or snuggling."

With a giggle, the temporarily marked actor let his eyes roam around the trailer as if looking for any signs of hidden cams or co-workers waiting to come out from the bathroom stall or below his enormous bed. When none of it became obvious to his eagle eye, Armin reluctantly let go of Jean, feeling the warmth of their embrace linger for a while. Many times, he'd wanted to admit he was lucky for being with Jean in whatever unofficial way they were. Fortunately, his frequently forgotten ego automatically came to the rescue before any of that could leave Armin’s soft, thin lips.

"Don't tell me you're recording all this. I swear I'll -"

"Kiss me hard? Give me the cold shoulder for the next 24 hours?"

"Jean, that's what _you_ do. God, don't change the subject. What's this, coming out of the blue just like that?"

"I told Connie I loved you, and he said I should do something."

"Do what about it?"

About it. _It_. Loved? They had known each other for almost six years by then, but he’d never thought it possible.

"He said I should say it. That I love you."

"You love me," Armin echoed, counting the number of syllables of such declaration in his mind. However true the words felt to him, they sounded like something that escaped what he'd expected a love interest to feel about him. "Aren't you confused? I mean. We're good in bed and yes, most times I'll cook you decent instant noodles but. Gee, friends would do something similar. Except for the sex. Well, maybe. Some people go for that, too, and they don’t go around feeling romantically involved."

"When we're lying on your couch or this fucking small bed, I don't think of you as a friend,” Jean rebutted, falling on the disastrous place where he slept. Watching his chest go up and down faster than any other day, Armin decided to stay silent and watch the world just happen for once. “When you kiss me with that... intensity, man. Is that friendship? Is it friendship when you wake me up, stroking my face softly not to scare me shitless? Is -"

"No. But I thought -" The shorter man started off, giving it his all to sound convinced in the few words he said before his lover’s hand caught his and dragged him down.

"You thought wrong, Arlert," his colleague replied with a huff and a half-smile, holding their messy heads together as Armin felt how long, slender fingers ran over a sea of golden and brown.

With a loud thump, he realized his body had fallen on top of the other actor’s torso, which made his own heart skip a beat. Wordlessly, Armin sat on Jean’s hips before kissing him slowly, caressing his sides with his cold touch. With his fingers, he traced small patterns along his partner’s olive-green shirt until they reached the button on the brunet’s collar. Locking eyes as if asking for permission, Armin waited with short breaths until he received slow nodding for an answer.

They were used to all that it meant to be alone in each other’s trailers. They knew how easy it was for them to end up tangled on each other, sweaty and with nothing else to offer but their bare skin and _themselves_. However, as he worked out how to get rid of the brown leather harness they wore while filming, a thought that no longer felt scary struck him. From then on, it wasn’t sex that they would have in common. They would make love with the sole purpose of finding each other because there was no one else who would be better than them. Because they were each other's undoubtedly. Freeing the taller man from his top garments, Armin remained in silence for a moment, admiring the person underneath his restraining position.

There was no one else he felt like he belonged. Jean was the only one responsible for all that had run through his mind while undressing the man almost mechanically. Right there, resting on top of tightened leather and cotton pants, he felt his heart accelerate at the sight of a subtly reddened face and half-closed hazel eyes.

“It feels different, doesn’t it?” He heard Jean ask in a whisper, his chest heaving while he controlled himself from turning their positions around.

Chuckling lightly, Armin looked down with a whole new pair of eyes, or rather, the pair he’d repressed from showing for so long. “It does. But I like it.”

“I like you,” Jean said in a muffled cry when the blonde man pinched one of his nipples teasingly. Grinding against him, Armin went for his lips to kiss him hungrily.

“I’m covered in foundation,” he mumbled between kisses, pressing Jean’s throat slightly with one of his hands before the man could kiss any spot he had before. “So it’ll just have to be you this time.”

“Fuck, you’re driving me crazy. Just do whatever.”

“Should I just stay here seated?”

“Arlert, you start this, you finish this,” Jean threatened with a loving look, feeling the air come through his windpipes with the pleasure that only Armin’s hands around his neck could give him. Pressing a bit harder, the shorter man kissed him again wantonly.

Unbuttoning his half-buttoned white shirt, Armin quickly shook off his own harness and crossed his arms above Jean’s head, his wrists resting on the mattress as the warmth of the other’s man invaded his cold skin. Working both of their pants zippers, he felt Jean’s hands take his head and direct them to another sloppy kiss, in which Armin took the pleasure of capturing the other man’s tongue with his and eliciting moans out of his extremely sensitive co-star. When the unzipping was done, he slid their pants and briefs down, leaving them naked in what had seemed like a couple of seconds.

Flinching at the touch, Armin felt his member pressed again Jean’s and tried to muffle a moan of his own. Despite how delicious it felt to lean on the wide shoulders and narrow hips of his lover, he was scared of it all ending too soon. Looking at the clock hanging above the mirror, he smiled and moved on top of tanned skin again, bringing their cocks together again. When he heard Jean cry in ecstasy, the blonde actor bit his lower lip to prevent himself from smiling too widely. He enjoyed seeing him like that, and he felt lucky it was he who had the chance to make him feel full. Brushing some chestnut hairs away from Jean’s messy mullet, Armin gave in to what he hadn’t done before because claiming the man’s body had sounded so impossible.

He bit down Jean’s neck hard and sucked, paying attention to the sweet nothings his lover said while losing his mind to them being so close together. With a hand on themselves, Armin cried softly as he stroked each other simultaneously, their members moving together at the same pace while Jean’s chest jumped in an effort to get more air. Kissing him softly on his right cheek, the blond glued their temples together while sweat ran down onto his navy-blue bedsheets. Like the teardrops they had been so accustomed to feeling from Armin’s rehearsals as well as his true outbursts, for once, he felt glad that the dampened area below them was a translation of love.

Leaping involuntarily, Jean and him still encircled in his hand, he shut his head backward to feel the waves of pleasure from his touches travel through his every nerve. Watching Jean pant and moan uncontrollably through his half-closed ocean eyes, Armin increased the pace of his hand movements. Although he had trouble breathing and could feel himself reach the edge, he couldn’t stop when his lover’s low voice started whispering his name like a mantra. If Armin had to be honest, that was his favorite part of being there, so openly naked and connected to Jean. Hearing his name be called over and over again until they reached their climax never failed to make his heart flutter. Not in any way, but exactly like the first time Jean had taken his head with both hands just to dive in and kiss him, turning Armin’s insides into a mess.

“Baby, I’m coming,” the brunet warned with a small smile, looking up into the sea that waited for him to go wild. Biting down his moans, he commanded, “Armin, please, faster.”

Following Jean’s wishes, Armin put a bit more pressure on their cocks and moved his hand swiftly, keeping the rhythm as he felt himself get closer. Feeling his head start to feel light, Jean’s name escaped his lips as he lost sight to the piercing cry that left his lover’s throat. Stroking both members for a few more seconds, he let go and fell on top of Jean’s chest, breathing in the smell of sweat and Jean’s scent. Giving it his all to open his eyes, Armin tilted his head upwards to ask for a kiss. As mechanically as how it all had started, Jean acceded immediately, giving him a peck on his now dry lips. No matter the circumstance, it always came to them lying on the bed so carelessly, wanting nothing more than a kiss to seal the exhaustion that flooded them afterward.

“You love me,” Armin echoed with a small laugh, closing his eyes again and feeling the temperature descend as their hearts adjusted to their usual rhythm.

“I really do. Especially after this.”

“And only because of this?”

“Mh - Because of _you_.”

“I love you, too, Jean,” he replied sleepily, letting his head relax on Jean’s shoulders. Smiling languidly, he said what was left of his confession, “I love you so much.”

Despite the fact he felt too tired to process any other physical gesture before drifting off, the blonde actor giggled groggily when Jean’s strong arms wrapped around his waist. That was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> OK. After having given it some thought, I decided I wanted to write this Actors!AU. Again, it's my second M-Rated fic, so if you could let me know what you think, please, do!
> 
> I started writing this AU the moment I saw [Ten](https://twitter.com/1010arts/status/1362048022641733638)'s illustration, which is nothing less than perfect. 
> 
> My twt account is @[kirschlert](http://twitter.com/kirschlert). I'll be more than happy to read what you have to say about this!


End file.
